Railway-switch stand



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

` GEORGE F. GAGE, OF IIUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAI I wAY-swlToH STAN D.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,65*?, dated April2, '1889.

Application filed November 9, 1888. Serial No. 290.362. (No model.)

To aZZ'wz/om/z't may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE YF. GAGE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Huntingdon, in t-he county of Huntingdon and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in cRailway- Switches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,

referencebeinghad to theaccompanying draw- Y the prior construction,to'dispense with the cogs, and to otherwise simplify and improve uponthe same.

To the above ends, and to such others as the invention may pertain, thesame consists in the peculiar combinations, and in the novelconstruction, arrangement, and adaptation of Vparts, all as more fullyhereinafter described,

shown in the drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference maiked thereon,form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l is a plan view of a portion of themain track, switch-rails, and switch -stand suflicient to illustrate myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is an edgeView.

Reference now being. had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates portions of the rails of the main track, and B those of asiding, all of which are secured to thev crossties, and maybe of theform andI con struction common in devices of this kind.

OO are the switch-rails, having their fulcrum at a, and connected by thecross-braces l) in the usual manner.

c are metal wearing-plates on the cross-ties, and on which theswitch-rails move. The brace connecting the 4ends of the switch-railsfarthest from their fulcrum extends beyond one side of one of the rails,and has pivotally connected thereto one end of the link D, the other endof which is pivotally connected to 011e end of the switchlever E. Thepivotal connections may be formed in any well-known way for instance, byforming the ends of the links with reduced portions d,which lit in theslotted end of the brace-rod and lever, and are there retained by thepivot-pins e and e.

Secured to a suitable base-plate or other suitable support, F, is thebracket G, formed with lugs or ears f, by which it is held in position,and in an enlargement, g, of this bracket is pivoted, as at h, theswitch-leverE. The said lever works in a slot, i", of the bracket G, asshown, and is provided at a point between its free end and its fulcrumwith a notch or a plurality of notches,

His what I term a safety-lock. It is pivoted at one end, as at 7e, tothe upper end of the bracket G, and works in the above-described slot ofsaid bracket. Itis preferably slightly curved to conform somewhat to thecurvature of the front portion of the bracket, and at its lower end isformed or provided with the jaws or fingers l, to embrace theswitch-lever, and between said jaws with a detent or tooth, m, to engagethe notch of said lever. The said safety-lock is also provided with asuitable handle, n, by which it is operated.

To lock the lever in its normal position against meddlesome persons, Iprovide the lock and hasp I and J, as seen in the drawings; but ofcourse other fastenings may be employed, `if desired.

For use on side tracks a catch-lever, K, is provided, which is pivotedon the bracket G, near the upper end thereof, and curved, as shown, withits free end beveled, as shown at 0, for the purpose of holding saidlock in an elevated position.

The operation is simple and apparent. lV ith the parts in the positionshown in Fig. l the switch-lever is locked. Then it is design ed toswitch a train onto the siding, the safety-lock is lifted up until itsdetent is disengaged from IOO the notch of the switch-lever, when thesaid switch-lever is free to be manipulated to move the switch-rails.The safety-lock follows the switch -lever in its upward movement, andwhen the said leveris lowered or allowed to fall the safety-lock fallswith it, and as soon as it reaches its lowest position the detentengages the notch of the lever and locks it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination,with the main track and the switch-rails, of the operating incollatiismfor said switch-rails, and a safety gravitylock for the operating-leverof said mechanism, pivoted in a higher plane than said lever, and movingover the lever and engaging and locking the same when it is in thesubstantially horizontal position, substantially as described.

The combination, with the main track andthe switch-rails, of theoperating mechanism for said switch-rails, the operating-lever of whichworks through a slotted bracket, and the gravity safety-lock, alsoworking through said slot and pivoted at its upper end,with its lowercnd embracing the lever, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with the main track and the switch-rails, of theoperating mechanisni for said switch-rails, and a gravity safetylockpivoted at its upper end above the lever of the operating mechanism,with its free end riding on said lever, and adapted to engage said leverbelow the pivot thereof when the lever is in a substantially horizontalposition and lock the same, substantially as shown and described, andfor the purpose specified.

,L. The combina-tion, with the main track and switch-rails and theoperating mechanism for said switch-rails, of a safety-lock for theoperatinglever, and a pivoted catch working at right angles to saidsafety-lock, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with the main track and the switclrrails, of theoperating mechanism for said switch-rails, the gravity safety lockriding over the lever of said operating mechanism and provided with ahandle, n, the lock and hasp I J for locking said handle, and a pivotedcatch workin g at right an glcs to the safety-lock, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

6. The combination, with the main and switch rails and the operatingmechanism for the switch-rails, the operating-lever of which is formedwith a notch, of a gravity safet lock pivoted to the rear of the pivotof said operating-lever and on a higher plane and moving over and lwiththe same, and formed with a detent to engage said notch and with jaws toembrace the lever, substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination, with the support F and the brackets G, securedthereto and provided with a slot, as described, of the operating-leverpivoted on said bracket and working in the slot thereof, and connectedat its cud to the mechanism for operating the rails, and the safety-lockpivoted at one end to said bracket and working in the slot thereof oversaid lever, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the switch-rails, the support F, and thebracket G, secured to said support and formed with curved slottedportion, as described, of the operating-lever pivot-ed to said bracketand the curved safetylock pivoted at one end to the apex of said bracketand working in said slot over and with the operating level',substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. GAGE.

'itnesses:

WM. P. OnBisoN, J. A. GREENLEAF.

